South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Monday it has successfully localized a core component of the Block-I laser anti-aircraft weapon "Cheon-Gwang."
Deployed at the end of 2024, Cheon-Gwang is a weapons system that neutralizes enemy drones and unmanned aerial vehicles by firing high-power fiber-optic-based lasers.
The laser oscillator, a core component, has now been localized. As a result, the localization rate of the laser anti-aircraft weapon, measured by value, has risen from 76% to 90%. The locally produced laser oscillator will be applied to future mass-production units.
The localization was led by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), with Hanwha Systems participating as the prototype manufacturer.
The locally developed laser oscillator improves key performance metrics, including output, by more than 50% compared with previously imported equipment. Engagement time has been shortened from two to four seconds to one to two seconds for drones (rotary-wing) and from more than 10 seconds to within a few seconds for unmanned aerial vehicles (fixed-wing).
"With this localization, the military's independent response capabilities against enemy drone and unmanned aerial vehicle threats are expected to be strengthened," DAPA said. "We also plan to pursue performance enhancements, including improvements in output and precision as well as miniaturization and weight reduction, through the Block-II laser anti-aircraft weapon system development project."
